The Jesus Word

It is difficult for me to think of any other name in all of history that attracts as much attention as the mere mention of it. Throughout history, Jesus, has become a name oft abused, disrespected, honored, glorified, and a bevy of other monikers that fall along the continuum.

From an early age, I was taught not to take the name of Jesus in vain--for fear of some type of lightening strike or committment of the abomination. And it was in the seventh grade that I learned what would happen at home if I did. A couple of students were messing around in the hall, and in my frustration to get by, slipped out "Jesus Christ!" I had never used that name in vain at that point, and I feared for my life after doing it. A teacher heard me and assigned me a detention. How far we've come.

And over the past few months, as I've spent hours coaching basketball, I've let fly a few God damn it's, and have paused at how odd it sounds from my mouth. For me, the name of my god is still revered, despite some of my obvious shortcomings. And when, in a High School assembly, a speaker let fly the phrase, "Jesus Christ! You guys are slow," following a joke, my sense of self felt violated. Not because I am self-righteous, but because that name is important to me. It frustrates me that in our culture, where religion is looked down on by the self-righteous progressives as if they alone lay claim to truth (and yes, I understand that Christians are often guilty of this as well), and secular tolerance is preached in public schools so we don't offend anybody, a highly offensive (at least to Christians) remark would go unnoticed.

I wonder, if in his motivational speech, the speaker had proclaimed, "And I worked hard and made it out of a tough situation with the help of Jesus Christ," how many phone calls would innundate the office, and how many of my progressive colleagues would have been irate.